Stockholm and Helsinki

We are racing from port to port so I wanted to get it all recorded for posterity. Our tour of Stockholm with SPB Tours included visits to the Vasa Museum and the City Hall. I thought it would be a big snooze feast but both were amazing. The Vasa was a wooden warship built in 1628 that sank 7 minutes after launch. It is huge and very well done. They built the museum around the ship, very impressive. We spent a very interesting hour there. Since President Obama was visiting Stockholm, we had some issues getting around but did get to see the city. It is so clean and very beautiful. The City Hall is an amazing building where the banquet for the Nobel awards is held. The room is very impressive, huge with massive brass chandeliers and a marble staircase. Another massive room is covered in mosaic tiles, floor to ceiling (about 40ft high by 100ft long). The old town of the City was very interesting, we didn't see much because it was hard to push the wheelchair around on the cobbles! Helsinki is another very clean and neat Scandinavian city. Our guide was very informative. We visited the big White Church, shopped in the market, and visited the church in the rock....I know, another church, but this one was wonderful. Very simple, built in the granite with a copper dome roof. The acoustics are so clear with a pipe organ. We drove through the Olympic plaza and stopped at the stadium built for the 1952 summer games. They are very proud of hosting a summer games north of 60 degrees latitude. Back to the ship for lunch and maybe a swim since it is back to summer temps!